Schuylerville earns Wasaren League win over Stillwater

Ed Burke The Saratogian 12/10/13
Schuylerville varsity basketball coach Matt Steinfort talks to his team during Tuesday's matchup against Stillwater at Schuylerville.

SCHUYLERVILLE >> After getting off to slow starts in their first two games, Dante Langley made sure it wasn’t going to happen again for the Schuylerville boys basketball team. The junior forward scored 10 points in the opening frame to set the tempo en route to the Black Horses’ 61-40 win over Stillwater Tuesday night.

“We were definitely fired up,” Langley said. “In our first two games, we started out slow and we didn’t want to do that again. We wanted to come out quick.”

The Black Horses (2-1) did just that, opening that game on a 12-1 run to take control early. Langley scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter, to go along with 12 rebounds and three blocks. Front-court mate Nicholas Richard also tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

“Those two guys are rocks for us,” Schuylerville coach Matthew Steinfort said. “Dante had an outstanding game and just willed himself to compete and Nick Richards did a great job for us on the glass and anchored our defense.”

Advertisement

Zachary Pierce also netted double figures for Schuylerville with 11 points. Zach Baldwin led Stillwater (2-2) with 12, while Mitchell Wayand chipped in with seven.

After Schuylerville’s initial 12-1 burst to open the game, Stillwater began to weather the storm. The Warriors responded with a 7-2 spurt to start the second quarter to make it a five-point game. That lead would hold as the two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter. The third quarter, however, was a different story.

The Black Horses turned up their defense, creating turnovers which led to easy transition baskets. Schuylerville scored the first 14 points of the third quarter and kept Stillwater scoreless for more than six and half minutes to expand their lead to 39-20.

“It was a five-point game at the half and it was anybody’s ball game at that point,” Stillwater coach Dave Cook said. “But they came out and executed very well and made the shots they got out of their offense. We didn’t execute and missed out shots and that was the ball game. We started playing from behind and it’s hard to come back against a good team.”

Schuylerville’s lead grew to 25 points early in fourth quarter after a Pierce 3-pointer. Both teams emptied their bench with five minutes to play and the Black Horses earned their second straight Wasaren League victory.

“Every game is important,” Steinfort said. “You’re going to take away things that are important and some things that you need to build upon and improve. But a win can’t hurt before going into a tough night like Friday night against Hoosick Falls.”

The Black Horses travel to take on the Panthers Friday night, while Stillwater looks to bounce back with a home game against Greenwich.